Small Incremental Actions Within Big Bet

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Small, incremental actions like listening to the local community and addressing specific needs, such as implementing safe burial practices, can have a significant impact in achieving bold aspirations. In this case, focusing on safe burial practices led to a 70% reduction in case transmission, significantly lowering the number of cases in multiple countries. While Big Bets are important, it is the collective impact of small, targeted actions that truly make a difference in achieving ambitious goals.

When Rajiv Shah was in his late 20s and didn’t know what to do with his life, he got a job at a fledgling nonprofit, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Before he knew it, he was a driving force behind a global vaccination program that immunized 900 million children and saved 16 million lives.

At 36, he became the administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), managing a $20 billion budget, overseeing a staff of 10,000, and leading the U.S. response to global humanitarian crises.

Today, as president of the Rockefeller Foundation, he’s finding innovative solutions to mitigate climate change and end energy poverty.

What connects these experiences? At every step, Raj maintained a big bet mentality. What is a big bet? “A concerted effort to fundamentally solve a single, pressing problem in your community or our world. Big bets require setting profound, seemingly unachievable goals and believing they are achievable.” In this episode, he shares his methodology for creating large-scale change and making the world a better place.

Host: Rufus Griscom

Guest: Rajiv Shah

Book: Big Bets: How Large-Scale Change Really Happens